It’s been a couple of weeks since we went to Madelyn’s dream for the first time and Joy competed against her in the pool.
As we return to her dream - Master Mind, Joy, Justin, and I - we notice that Charlie’s elevator had been left behind by us, having been made permanent by Joy’s touch. After all, if Justin and Charlie both disappeared, and something happened to her jetpack, it may be hard for Joy to return.
We had left Charlie in his dream. He was playing there with his classmates and wanted to keep playing. Joy wanted to visit Madelyn. Neither kid wanted to change their opinion, so we left without Charlie.
And here we are again, entering Madelyn’s dream.
As the glass elevator descends, we see that we are above a tennis court.
“What’s tennis?” Joy asks.
I look at Justin, almost horrified. “Justin, have you never shown Joy what tennis is?” Justin looks away from me and shakes his head. “But it’s such a big part of your life! Even now!”
He shakes his head again.
“What’s tennis?”
The elevator comes to a stop and we step out.
“It’s a game of sport,” I tell Joy. “You have one person on one side, another person on the other side, and you have to hit the ball with the racket and get it back to the other person. If you miss, your opponent gets a point.”
“Huh,” Joy says.
We now see Madelyn. She is on the court in a wheelchair, holding a tennis racket.
“Bonjour!” Madelyn calls out. “You are back!”
Joy runs to her. “Hi Madelyn! Whatcha doing?”
“Hi Zhoy! I am playing tennis.”
Justin stands next to Joy. His face seems locked in pain and anger. “How can you play tennis, Madelyn? You don’t have any legs.”
I believe I have never seen Justin that tactless in his adult life. What’s going on with him?
“Ah, Justin,” Madelyn says. “Ca va?”
“Oui, ca va bien,” he says automatically. At least he knows how to greet people in French. “Et toi?”
“Ca va tres bien,” she says. “If you look at this chair, Justin, you will understand that I can move without legs.”
“But how can you play tennis? You need to run and get there quickly?”
“You can sit and watch and see,” Madelyn says. She turns the wheelchair, so that her back is to us. Then she turns it back. “Or perhaps you want to play against me? Do you play?”
Justin’s mouth closes tightly. When I see he’s not responding, I take a step forward and speak for him. “Justin used to be a very good player, one of the top players in the country.”
“Ah!” Madelyn is impressed. “I am, as well.”
“But how can you play…” Justin mumbles.
“You say ‘used to be’, ah…”
“Je m’appelle Walt,” I say. “I’m his father.” Madelyn nods, and I continue. “He had an accident. A car hit him. His legs were…” and I trail off, realizing what’s bothering Justin. “They were broken. And he couldn’t play anymore.”
“Ah,” Madelyn says with understanding. But I understand more, of course. Justin had to give up on the one thing he loves the most in life because his legs were broken. And here’s Madelyn, with no legs, playing tennis. “Your legs seem fine now,” she points to them. “Do you want to play me?”
Justin shakes his head and takes a step back, as if she had offered him to eat maggots.
I get an idea. I take his arm and whisper to him. “You know, Justin, this is the Dream. You’re in shape. You can do flip-flops. Maybe it’s time for a tennis match?”
Madelyn is looking at him with a challenging smile. Justin looks down at his arms, moving them as if testing how much muscle he has. Then he looks at Joy. Then at Madelyn.
“Let’s do it!” he smiles. “A tennis match!”
“Excellente,” she says in French. “Let us do it!”
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt